If You Were a French Girl, You Wouldn’t Be So Ugly
The growing fetish for French girls is toxic and uncomfortable…
Do you know what’s more perfect than a fresh, warm croissant?
A French girl eating that fresh, warm croissant.
Ah~, oui, mon chéri! No one can compare to the French girl. She is an aspirational ideal and we all want to look and dress like her.
The French girl is an embodiment of utter perfection unlike the rest of you. Her accent is sweet in the tender air and when she smiles demurely with her rosy cheeks, the whole world sighs in adoration.
In Paris, she bikes along the Seine in a mini skirt, strolls down cobbled streets with baguettes tucked under her arm, or sits leisurely at an open-air Cafe, sipping dark coffee from a quaint white teacup.
She wears a chic beret and flaunts her skinny, boyish figure in a starched white dress, exuding unbridled femininity and an air of sophistication wherever she goes.
This is how we imagine the ideal, fictional French girl. French culture with all its glamour, sensual decadence, artistic worldliness, and enthralling music has become so romanticized that we’ve even started to romanticize their women!
Articles and blogs are constantly praising French girls as the epitome of female perfection.
“How to dress like a French girl.”
“How French girls style their hair and wear make-up.”
“A French girl’s beauty secrets to aging gracefully.”
“Why French girls are effortlessly chic.”
“Sexy lingerie that all French girls wear.”
But here’s a secret — it’s all a bunch of B.S.
This French girl fantasy is a piggy-bank myth and a billion-dollar industry built for the sole purpose to squeeze you out of your money. She is a product of media-pile, built on false narratives from beauty magazines and fashion publications.
Insecure women looking to live the romantic Parisian lifestyle are quick to jump into the bandwagon. It is no wonder this obsession has become so profitable.
The origins of our enchanting French girl…
When we think of fashion, Paris Fashion Week is the first to spring to mind. Paris has always been the fashion capital of the world, its reputation for extravagance and beauty taking root with Louis XIV, ‘the Sun King,’ who built the opulent Versailles.
Since then, France boasts a history of the most elite fashion culture in the world. From Marie Antoinette who splurged on frills and silks to the 20th century, ‘King of Fashion,’ Paul Poiret who ushered in an era of sensational Haute couture.
The French fashion industry has successfully cemented itself as a leader in style, innovation, and talent. Naturally, Francophiles would admire the stunning French women that graced the fashion magazines and cinema films.
“This must be how all French women look like!” They would say in awe and then berate themselves for not having the same trim, tidy figures.
Women are pursuing a French course on life improvement and quite frankly, it’s tragic. This type of femininity is found everywhere on Pinterest and Youtube tutorials, leaving your head filled with dreams of satisfying the Parisian ideal. This is absolute nonsense because it is one-dimensional beauty.
Firstly, it is ridiculous to assume that all French girls fall into this stereotype. Not every French girl from Paris to Nice look like they just walked off a fashion runway. In addition, the thinness trend associated with the ‘French Girl’ is toxic. Statistically speaking, France has the highest number of underweight women in all of Europe.
“Studies have shown that, out of all Western Europeans, French women have the lowest BMI, at 23.2.” — Julie Morse in Pacific Standard.
Fatphobia is so real in France that they’re facing an anorexia epidemic due to a serious crisis in a rising number of eating disorders. It is no wonder the breakfast of ‘cigarette and coffee’ is considered a French weight-loss diet.
French standards of beauty have not been inclusive of curvy women since Coco Chanel popularized the petite and thin frame. Fawning over French beauty is basically glorifying unhealthy beauty standards.
This societal obsession with thinness that is interlinked with French beauty is blatantly stupid because not only is it difficult to obtain, it can also kill you.
Secondly, it makes other women feel ‘lacking’ because they don’t fit the criteria of being white, stick-thin skinny with luscious hair, juicy lips, and smooth skin. It is just another way to punish women for not ‘fitting in.’ Instead of embracing differences, it tells you that you’re not perfect enough and berates you for not following the same ‘exotic’ example of that effortless beautiful French girl.
Funnily enough, being a ‘French girl’ is not exotic as it may seem. Beauty standards around the world are already globalized and it’s not much different from Western beauty standards.
Are you thin and tall?
Are you a white girl with a golden tan?
Is your hair smooth and long?
Are you naturally beautiful and don’t cake your face in make-up?
Do you dress perfect and appropriate at all times?
This is the French girl in a nutshell. Not so exotic now, is she? She is every beauty standard in the western world with the French twist.
To make this very clear, this is NOT a criticism of women who do satisfy this type of femininity or women who openly admire the French style. Women admiring other women for their fashion, make-up, and style is not inherently wrong.
The problem is the over-romanticism of the French girl that damages both French women and others who feel pressured to adopt this look. It is the fetishization of French girls that is damaging.
It is time to say ‘au revoir’ to this false narrative of the ‘perfect French woman’ that women everywhere most embody. Our self-esteem should not be propped up with how other women look.
Dress and look any way you want and if you take inspiration from French style, go ahead and add that beret to your wardrobe! But don’t imprison yourself with unobtainable beauty standards and dread your very existence.
Confidence is the true beauty.